The Opelousas courier., 1887-07-16

benefits of the stream of immigration which
for fifty years had been pouring into theiI
borders
Furthermore, that we possessed richer soil
richer mines and grander forests than the
North, and should not only contend for the
immigrant, but offer better homes to her citi
zens who had already taken up homes in the
Northwest.
Already the people of Iowa, Dakota and
Minnesota are discovering the incompatible
advantages of Louisiana, and the hundreds
who have settled in Southwestern Louisiana
families coming,
The South can offer to the world 80 per cent
of all the arabic land i'm the United States, oi
which there is opent0 settlement 81 1872 square
miles belonging to the United States govern
ment. We have room for fve-fold the pres
ent population. The immigrant will find soil
of far greater fertility than in the west, and
an average rainfall one-th ird greater than in
the best producing grain areas of this coun-
try. Fifty per cenEs0f this land is covered
with forests, say 2259 ,sd7 gil acres.
The value of the yellow pine available Ia
tai present assessed values of all the Southern
States, to say nothing of the value of the cy-
press, gum, walnut and other wood sufficient
to last the United States a century.
In coal the South has 0,000, coo acres con-
tiguous to thousands of square miles of iron
ore.
While we are Offering cur fertile. soil, grand
forests and rich minerals to the citizens OF
the North, and opening wide our arms to Wel-
come immigrants from over the sea, is it not
time to consider seriously why We should not
educate our boys to realize the rich resources
of the South. The press can assist in securing
for these eallings the respect and eonsidera'
aid in making Industrial training an integral
part of general education; also in securing
the equipment of institutions wherein the
boys and girls of Louisiana may acquire oc
cupations which will enable them TO become
self-supporting. and take up the work of de-
veloping our rich resources instead ofsrelylng
forever on others.
The press can help to break down the .un
reasoning prejudice and disinclination for
manual labor. Manual schools are in opera
tion as part of the pnblic school system in
Boston, Toledo. Cleveland, and partly in op'
Grafton in Philadelphia and Chicago.
Every Southern State is up and moving 10
the direction of the industrial education Of
her children, by increasing the facilities oi
the State institutions established for that OBJ
iect.
We should throughly equip our agricultural
and mechanical college on basis TO meet oil
requirements, devote the institution to the
purposes for which it was originally designed
and create an industrial school where oui
girls would have equal advantages in acquir
ing the occupations for which they are suited
Many of us came to manhood finding oul
country torn with ,dissension, its hillsides and
valleys streaming with it's best blood, and lts
trade and industries paralyzed.
The best years of our lives have passed WIZ
Messing the efforts of our people to heal sec
tional wounds. How different is all things
for the boy of the South. He comes to man
hood, finding his country at peace with all the
world, all national questions in process o.
peaceful adjustment, his people enjoying tht
benefits of honest government, and the pulses
of trade and industry throbbing with 6
| healthy vitality everywhere. More thaI
| that, he finds the eyes of the world turned
| upon the South.
| At last her fertility of soil, vast forests and
| rich minerals attract the capitalist, th'
skilled artisan and hene-seekef. They are
| coming millions strong; not with banners ana
| bayonets or hostile front, but with oliy'
| branches and treasures, equipped with tn
best weapons of science and invention, t.
plant homes in our valleys, rip open onr noun
tains and lay bare the hidden minerals.
What part will our Southern boys take II
| waged on Southern soil and which must exeF
such an influence upon the destinies OF tn
world
In this contest he should be taught tina
every blow he strikes is for the honor of hi
State and the glory of his country.
Not only in the arena of diversified agrlcnl
| ture, improved implements and methods TO b
extended, but the iron ege inaugurated in th
South less than decade ago, is now to b
surpassed by the South giving to the worl'
cheap American steel and cheap fuel.
With cheap fuel, iron, steel, wood, and
| thorough Industrial training, the Southern
boy can achieve the industrial independence
! of the South and invest her with degree Q
power and glory beyond the most sanguin
dreams of his father.